Norway’s pangolin stance spotlights Chinese pharma

China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings Co

23/12/2021 04:33

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are their own.)
    By Yawen Chen
    HONG KONG, Dec 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Norway's $1.4
trillion sovereign wealth fund has dumped a tiny stake in $19
billion Yunnan Baiyao  000538.SZ , one of China’s top
pharmaceutical companies specializing in so-called traditional
Chinese medicine, or TCM, on grounds that the company uses
pangolins, a species devastated by Chinese demand for its scales
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2T729U. Norway’s Council on Ethics, which makes investment
recommendations to the pension fund, said it found Yunnan
Baiyao’s use of pangolin unacceptable. 
    The TCM market, worth an estimated $150 billion, exploded
during the pandemic as Beijing endorsed its claims of efficacy
treating Covid-19. Global fund managers like Vanguard and
BlackRock  BLK.N  have exposure to the sector; shareholders in
Hong Kong-listed China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings
 0570.HK  include the California Public Employees Retirement
System and Quebec’s provincial pension fund, per Refinitiv data.
    China has been tightening wild animal protection rules, but
controversial animal practices persist. Western pressure might
not deter ordinary Chinese people from believing rhinoceros horn
is an aphrodisiac, or that pangolin scales treat arthritis,
despite little scientific evidence. But a concerted global ESG
campaign might convince Beijing, at least, to push for more
reform.  (By Yawen Chen)
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 (Editing by Pete Sweeney and Thomas Shum)
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